In the News

Microsoft and Facebook announced an agreement to build a new, state-of-the-art subsea cable across the Atlantic. The new “MAREA” cable will help meet the growing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers. The parties have cleared conditions to go Contract-In-Force (CIF) with their plans, and construction of the cable will commence in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017.

Vivoom, a mobile media company that enables brand-safe storytelling with consumers at scale, is announcing a new user-generated marketing alliance with Microsoft. It will encourage the creation and distribution of branded and consumer-created content. With Vivoom, Microsoft’s audience will be able to easily create and share mobile videos with brand filters and custom calls-to-action added automatically. Also, with this platform, Microsoft will have the ability to flag and remove any off-brand or inappropriate content instantly, regardless of where it was shared, and to republish the best content across the company’s own marketing and social channels.

Since last summer, the tech giant has pushed and prodded PC owners to upgrade their machines to its latest Windows version. While the upgrade is currently free for most consumers with Windows PCs, Microsoft initially offered Windows 10 as an optional upgrade. Then, earlier this year, the company reclassified it as a recommended update. Many PCs are set up to automatically install recommended updates, which are usually important security fixes. Suddenly those machines would automatically install Windows 10 as well.

In order to further enhance its Youth Spark project, leading IT firm Microsoft in partnership with NASSCOM instituted its fourth edition under the Skill India Initiative to skill 300 underserved girls on coding and computer science programs. Manju Dhasmana, Community Affairs Lead, Microsoft India, said, “The project has been undertaken to access boost in skilling ability and entrepreneurship. Underserved children, from tribal areas, have always been a challenging task for us as sometimes programs do not reach out in those remote areas. We have undertaken programs in Gujarat, North Eastern regions, Karnataka and West Bengal. Our next plan is to carry out the project in Uttar Pradesh.”

Microsoft has quite the strategy for games on Windows 10 and Xbox. According to anonymous sources speaking to Kotaku, Microsoft is working to converge both platforms as part “Project Helix”. Apparently this initiative will entail releasing future big name games for both Windows 10 and Xbox One. We’ve already seen that with series like Forza, whose future titles will be releasing on Windows 10, but it also seems that future Halo titles will be following suit.

According to Windows insider Brad Sams, there’s a lot more to expect at E3 2016 from the Redmond-based company. During his weekly podcast he revealed that Microsoft’s E3 2016 will showcase what he called as “Xbox Mini” which he claims is “real” but is “not sure what form it is going to take.” There will also be two streaming devices. The first will be built along the lines of the Chromecast while the other will be “like the Apple TV”, possibly integrating with Windows 10 apps and supporting lightweight games.

Strengthening its Ecosystem of Cloud, Ingram Micro Inc. announced the availability of Microsoft Azure on the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace. Demonstrating its commitment to driving the growth of cloud sales in the region, Ingram Micro is now offering Azure via the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. The fully automated process empowers channel partners to seamlessly purchase, provision, bill in a pay-as-you-go plan, and manage Azure while benefitting from topline revenue, ownership of the customer relationship, and quicker business transformation.

Microsoft Garage rolled out an updated version of its News Pro app on iOS that comes with a v2.0 tag. While the update packs in the usual fixes and some new features, the most interesting one is called Rowe. It is basically a bot that will help users find news in a more fun way. Tagged as a “personal news agent”, Rowe will provide news based on the already existing algorithms and will also be available on call in case users want to know about news related to a certain topic.

Microsoft India has sent out media invites for an event it is holding in New Delhi on May 30, 2016. The event, titled ‘Tech for Good, Ideas for India’, is said to be “a conversation with young achievers, students, developers, and entrepreneurs.” The event’s keynote address will be delivered by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, while Jayant Sinha, the Minister of State for Finance, will also be in attendance.

Microsoft has joined other tech giants working to deliver the Internet in remote parts of the world. Microsoft is making grants to small businesses that provide online access, software or related services in places like Africa, India and rural Maine. Paul Garnett, Director, Affordable Access Initiative, Microsoft, said, “Local entrepreneurs stand a better chance of understanding local needs, and have the expertise to create new technologies and business models to meet those needs, taking into account local market conditions.”